September 23, 2010: Goodby, Red Egg, I Hardly Knew Ye.

I'd never planted, nor had I ever tasted, eggplant. This year I received some seeds in the mail, and decided to give them a try. The two plants that I kept in pots grew large, lush and loaded with beautiful tennis ball sized red eggs. Unfortunately, I found the taste not to my liking.

Thompson & Morgan UK describes Red Egg as From South America, this Aubergine is a striking red colour and the size of a tennis-ball. An unusual and interesting colour to add to vegetable dishes. A good cropper, producing a generous helping of fruit throughout summer.

The first plant to bear had oval fruits that looked like the photos I'd seen.

The second one to bear was quite different, with perfectly round fruits. A lot of them. A "good cropper" may be an understatement! I wonder, if I had actually liked the taste, would they have given me so many?

I didn't count how many were on the first plant I pulled out and composted, but I cut 54 of them off the second plant before I quite counting.

There were many, many more uncounted globes.

They were lovely plants, I wish we had liked their fruits.

25 comments:

You brought up an excellent point about them bearing so much when you DON'T like them. I tried Butternut squash this year--and I'm sorry to say-UGH. And of course, it gave me 24!! I've never gotten a yield close to that of my beloved Acorn Squash.

All I can say is that I'm glad eggplant is such a great attractor of insects - since I don't like them but love how they look, now I have an excuse for planting them, they are purely "scarificial" in that all the bugs prefer them so I can spray away if I need to!

Red eggplants! Crazy! i have never seen those!! I am bummed you didn't like the eggplants, it is one of our favorite veggies! Next year you really should try again with an Asian variety... They grow long and thin, kind of like a zucchini, and the skin is very thin and light purple. They are much easier to prepare than regular eggplants since they need not be peeled, and probably a little more traditional in flavor than your red ones. However, I am definitely going to pour over the internet to find those red ones. How fun!

I sure hope Red Egg grows half as well in our garden as it did in yours, they really do have a pretty little fruit. This years eggplants were pretty sad, although they did produce...just not very much. So I say "hello Red Egg, I can't wait to get to know you better.":) Thanks Granny.

Egg plant is one crop that is not as well liked as most others. In my household, I am the only one that would eat it and even at that a little bit goes a long way with me. This plant might have been worth growing just for ornamental reasons though - as the red fruits are and nice foilage are really attractive to look at!

Sue, that surprises me! I really can't taste much difference between butternuts and acorns, except maybe butternuts are a bit sweeter. Maybe it's because I cook them both the same, baked with butter and brown sugar.

********Daphne, having never eaten eggplant before, I had nothing with which to compare. I even salted the slices and weighted them down on paper towels, then brushed them with olive oil and grilled them, but still found them leaving a slightly bitter taste in my mouth.

********The Mom, Mr. Granny wouldn't even taste it!

********Erin, these didn't have any problem with insects at all. They were just beautiful plants.

********Tiny Gardener, I've only seen a couple of sources for the seeds, Thompson & Morgan UK, and another that sells through amazon.com and no longer has the seed. I doubt I'll be planting any more eggplant. I've lived without it for nearly 72 years now, I think I can continue to do without ;-) Like parsnips (which I love), they take up too much room in my small garden.

********Mr. H., they loved the black pots that I got from the dollar store. I didn't even cut out the bottoms, the roots found enough drainage holes they could grow through. The roots went pretty deep into the ground under the pots. I had the pots in full sun, so the roots got pretty hot at times. You could probably grow them in your greenhouse, but expect a plant 4' high and wide!

********Kitsap, I really thought about using them in pots in the front of the house, but then they got so huge that just wouldn't work. Like I told Mr. H. (above), they got 4' high and wide.

********Spiderjohn, first of all, thank you for following my blog!

My raised beds are over rather alkaline native sandy soil, and originally (2008) filled with dairy compost mixed with a bit of peat moss. The following year I added more dairy compost, which I purchase at a local nursery for about $20 a yard. I plant right in the straight compost, I don't even bother to dig it in.

This year I bought "leaf and twig" compost, which I thought might be better because it cost quite a bit more, and my garden did not perform nearly as well. Whether it was the different compost, the weather, or a combination, I don't know. I blame the compost, as growth was so spotty. Next year I'll go back to using the dairy compost. I haven't the room or the materials to generate enough compost of my own.

********Lorie, in the end they won't go to waste, they'll be returned to the garden. I do wish I'd known someone who would eat them though. My neighbor, Pat, loves eggplant, but she'll not be coming back to her house next door.

I've never found eggplant from my garden to be bitter. I'm not a real fan though. Don't hate it. Don't care if I eat it or not. There are so many delicious things and my calories are better eaten elsewhere. My problem is I love the look of eggplant. I want to grow it for those beautiful fruits.

I bet you would like the Italian eggplant much better. I'm not the biggest eggplant fan but the Italian ones aren't to bad. I can give you some seed for next season if you'd like to try them, rosa bianca I think they're called.

Sidneygardener & Balcony/paradise, I am NOT going to dig through the compost bin to find those eggplants! I'm sure, by now, they would be quite the surprise to friends and family.....ewww, rotten little eggplants ;-) LOL!

Cheryl, I wasn't going to just continue to grow something I can't use. I have a deadline for getting things out of the garden, and it's closing in on me. I'm hoping I don't have just one frantic last week to get everything done. I even pulled my Fortex bean vines, and I'm hoping they dry enough to give me viable seeds for next year. The tomatoes are going next, except for the Brandywines. I really don't want to come home to a big mess in the garden next spring, so if it's not being enjoyed right now, it's going! I know it might seem like a waste to you, but if it doesn't get done, I might not even have a garden next year. I'm not getting any younger, and with nobody willing to help out, I just do what I have to do....including removing food that we just don't eat.

How did you prepare the eggplant? It can be hard to get it right, but once you get it, it is crazy good. I'm jelous that you got so many. Slugs devoured all my eggplant seedlings. this year. www.amysoddities.blogspot.com

Amy M., I brushed it with olive oil, salted and peppered and grilled it. I doubt I'd like it any way I cooked it. Just like I hate Parmesan cheese and sour salad dressings and dill pickles. I'm not going to like everything I taste.

I find that eggplant has to be cooked pretty slowly and thoroughly (which a grill cannot do). It tastes best to me when it is cooked to the point of it falling apart and can't hold its shape anymore. I guess its hard to describe. Anyway, I'm just saying if you have more eggplant to play around with, it really is worth giving it a second shot with a different cooking method. Low and slow.